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Wyoming becomes 44th state July 10, 1890

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In 1865, Rep. James M. Ashley (R-Ohio), chairman of the Committee on Territories, pressed Congress to provide a “temporary government for the territory of Wyoming.” It was to be carved out of portions of the Dakota, Utah and Idaho territories. His bill, however, did not advance out of committee.

When the Senate took up the issue successfully in 1868, other names were suggested for the new territory, including Shoshoni, Arapaho, Sioux, Platte, Big Horn, Yellowstone, Sweetwater, Lincoln and Cheyenne, the name of the eventual state capital. But by then, the name Wyoming was already in common use and remained the most popular choice of the still sparse populace. It was adopted from the Delaware Indian word that meant “at the big river flat,” originally applied to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.

The federal government acquired the land that now comprises eastern Wyoming in 1803 from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Several years later John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, became the first non-Native American known to have entered the region. He explored the area around what is now Yellowstone National Park and brought back news of its remarkable geysers and hot springs.

Western portions of Wyoming were obtained by the United States through the 1846 Oregon Treaty with Britain and as part of the land deal that ended the Mexican War of 1848.

When the Wyoming Territory was organized in 1869, Wyoming women became the first in the nation to obtain the right to vote, at least in part in a bid to garner enough votes to be admitted as a state. That finally occurred on this day in 1890, when Wyoming became the 44th state.